Monthly Update

Calabasas Country Club

Maintenance Department

There has been a lot of positive feedback about the course since the Club Championship, and congratulations to Jeff Gampel on his victory.  Some questions have arisen about the advantages and disadvantages in bringing up the course's playability.

It definitely is a give and take situation, which I separate it into three categories: health, aesthetics, and playability.

Members see that when we aerate or perform other necessary activities to ensure the course's health, the playability of the course goes down. Conversely, when we double cut and double roll the greens for three days straight (as we did last week) in order to enhance playability, the health of the greens decline.

The aesthetic value is effected by both conditions in different ways. Maintenance projects disrupt the short-term aesthetic value, but are done to ensure health and thus long term aesthetics and playability are gained.

On the other hand, constant sweeping and mowing makes the course look great for a short period, but in time the mowers will wear the grass down to nothing, which has adverse effects on health and aesthetics.

My main concern is health; it is not possible to keep aesthetics and playability up long term without raising the health. The goal is to raise the health and slowly bring up aesthetics and playability until they are all at a notable and sustainable level.

A few activities planned for July;

·         Tree trimming and clearing dead trees

·         Bunker sand replacement

·         Light top-dress applications on the greens

·         Soil, tissue and water test were conducted to ensure proper nutrient and amenities are added to the greens over the next few months.

·         Collar and approach verticutting; this removes excessive thatch build-up and reduces scalping.

·         Hydrojecting the greens; this aerates with water jets breaking through organic matter in the process.

·         Flushing the greens to move sodium down the soil profile

·         Wetting agent/surfactant application on greens

A few advantages of these wetting agents are:

1.        Increases moisture retention; allows soil to absorb and hold water

2.        Reduces frequency of watering

3.        Reduced use of fertilizers

4.        Optimizes maturation

5.        Promotes deeper roots and increases the number of fine root hairs

6.        Reduces labor costs associated with intensive turf management

7.        Reduces compaction

Regards,

Eric Wenzinger

Golf Course Superintendent

FRE-FLO™ System Maintenance

FRE-FLO™ SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY

 FRE-FLO™ is an eco-friendly water conditioning and water conservation technology that solves calcium carbonate scale problems, easily, safely, scientifically. Since 1972, FRE-FLO™ catalytic water technology has a track record providing scale control and water saving solutions for a range of problems in agriculture, turf, industry, and business.

In short this water conditioning system breaks up the large salt minerals in the water to increase the waters effectiveness; The bottom line is less water is used and more water penetrates our hard clay soils.

We purchased this system three years ago, it has shown water savings and better penetration. This blog is illustrating the cleaning process that occurs twice a year.

  
The back-hoe was used to support the 340lb conditioners and they where unfastened.

As water passes through this system the plates break up the minerals into smaller pieces so the water moves through the soil freely.

After cleaning the pieces slide back in. 

At Calabasas Country Club their are 3 of these water conditioners.

The conditioner is lined back up and secured with clamps

Update

Calabasas Country Club

Course Update

The unexpected weather the nation has been receiving has a lot of people scratching their heads; luckily Southern California has stayed on the cooler side somewhat consistently. The Midwest and East Coast has had it bad with low temperatures in the 40’s and highs in the low 100’s and rain almost every day over the last couple months. This will definitely affect grain and soy prices this winter along with Fungicide usage on golf courses.

Most members who read my blog or have asked me questions about the greens know that a big issue at CCC is the fact that the non-potable water in Southern California is reclaimed, and as such has an extremely high sodium content. Many issues we have with greens health could be resolved if sodium chloride water softeners were banned and replaced with potassium chloride water softeners. Many states across the US have already adopted the use of potassium-based water softeners. Unfortunately potassium-based water softeners are a relatively new product, and the households and businesses within the Southern California water districts are not yet equipped with the infrastructure needed to support its use. In the meantime, sodium management at Calabasas Country Club is a big concern that is constantly monitored and addressed with the following techniques.

1.        Gypsum “Calcium”

·         Bimonthly applications of soluble calcium are put down to replace the absorbed sodium.

2.        Leaching/flushing

·         Leaching/flushing the process of putting 6” of water down on the greens in a single night; this is the most important tool in aiding greens health. It moves the sodium down the soil profile and into the drainage. This is also why the drill and fill in March of this year was so crucial to open up channels that reach to the drainage. In some cases our 42 year old drainage system was not working properly which rendered this leaching process ineffective, and the drill and fill has been a good step in the right direction to restoring healthy drainage.   

3.        Humic acid

·         Humic acid restores missing or used up nutrients back to the soil which feed the naturally occurring processes that maintain a healthy environment for plant life.

This week all of these activities are scheduled, the effects will be the immediate dark green color which shows the importance of this process. The down side would be the greens will be softer which makes fixing ball-marks very important to sustain consistency and smoothness of the greens.

Thanks for you're continued support and understanding of my efforts,

Eric Wenzinger

Golf Course Superintendent

Greens Speed

I'd like to share some important facts, and myths, about greens speed… which is an issue that many have expressed concerns about around the golf course.

There is an important trade-off to understand when talking about greens: speed versus health. Fast greens are often obtained to the detriment of grass and soil health, and the health of the greens is my primary concern regarding my long term plans for the golf course.

Only under tournament conditions should the greens be mowed below optimum growth levels. For example, creeping bentgrass putting greens mowed at 1/8 inch show a 40% reduction in photosynthates compared to greens mowed at 5/32 inch. Thus, grass mowed lower is significantly less vigorous and not as healthy. Poor turf density is many times the result of excessively low mowing height.

Although mowing below optimum growth levels is a quick way to speed up greens, there are  various methods of cultivation for speeding greens that aren't so detrimental to course health.

Putting greens produce the highest quality putting surface when cultivated frequently. The best quality putting surfaces develop on greens where you core aerify or deeply vertical mow at least 20 percent of the putting surface area each year. Vertical mowing and sand topdressing in conjunction with core aeration produce the best quality putting surfaces, resulting in firm, smooth, well-drained and fast putting surfaces. Putting greens with adequate routine cultivation maintenance have an unlimited life expectancy, and ensure consistent putting surfaces at every point on the course.

Cultivation is a very technical and hands-on process. Knowing when and which method to use requires a keen understanding of agronomy, and I am confident that I can achieve greens speed and consistency that all members will be satisfied with while at the same time preserving the health of the course. As said before, cultivative practices are fairly more time consuming than mowing, but far more effective in the long run. I thank for your patience throughout this process.

Below is an excerpt from an article written by the USGA (United States Golf Association) on the history and use of the Stimpmeter, which is the standard tool used to measure greens consistency.

Making A Lasting Impression
January 18, 2006
By, USGA

What exactly what is a Stimpmeter? To the competitors, golf course superintendent or officials in charge of the setup, the figure is extremely vital. Uniform green speeds are important in keeping the competition fair and equitable.

The measuring device that provides the necessary data is called the Stimpmeter. The name is derived from the man who invented it more than 70 years ago. He was a highly skilled amateur from who was good enough to captain the Harvard men's golf team in the 1920s and win his state amateur championship in 1935. A year earlier, he advanced to the round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur at The Country Club.

While watching the 1935 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, Stimpson noticed how excessively quick greens prevented many of the game's best players from breaking 75. A native won the championship that year, mainly from his local knowledge of the putting surfaces.

Stimpson's concern at the time was not necessarily the speed of the greens, but consistency. So he devised a way of measuring the green's quickness.

One thing Stimpson never wanted to happen with his device was to have clubs use it as a speedometer. He didn't want Club A bragging to Club B that its greens ran 10 feet on the Stimpmeter compared to 8.5. Green speeds often become a hot topic of conversation around the grill room because of what people see on television during major championships. Some see green speeds as a way of measuring a course's championship worth, and Stimpson never envisioned his tool to be used in that manner.

He wanted the Stimpmeter used so that players would find the speed of the first green the same as the 18th. That's exactly what USGA officials do.

This debate over speed has been an ongoing challenge for superintendents and agronomists. Some question whether faster greens are good for the game. Certainly at the U.S. Open, green speeds are important, but that is a competition for the world's best players, not recreational golfers who carry double-digit USGA Handicap Indexes. Creating faster putting surfaces places increased pressure on those who maintain golf courses. But club members and greens committee chairman often want faster greens because televised golf showcases them during tournament play.

Staff writer for the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments atdshefter@usga.org.

Update

Calabasas Country Club

Maintenance Department

Monthly Update

May had a high temperature of 95 degrees and a low of 40 degrees averaging 63 degrees for the month. April had 0.25” of precipitation and wind gust up to 42 mph.

A few activities planned for June;

Greens

1. Needle tine aeration
2. Verticutting
3. Light Top-dressing
4. Hydrojecting
5. Leaching
6. Fertilizer
7. Fungicide
8. Insecticide
9. Growth Regulator

Tees

1. Spiking
2. Verticutting
3. Fertilizing
4. Soil Surfactant

Fairways

1.     Solid tine in traffic Areas

2.     Soil Surfactant

Collars/Approaches

1. Aerating
2. Verticutting
3. Top-dressing
4. Fertilizing

Roughs

1. Spiking Traffic Areas
2. Fertilizing
3. Herbicide

Regards,

Eric Wenzinger

Golf Course Superintendent